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Overpass collapse kills two in Brazil

An unfinished overpass being built for the World Cup has collapsed in Brazil's southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, killing at least two people and injuring 19.

The front of a yellow bus was crushed under a large stretch of the fallen highway, which is about 5km from the city's World Cup stadium and was being built as part of delayed infrastructure improvements for the tournament.

"It was like an earthquake. The ground shook violently," said Daniel Magalhaes, who was near the site at the time of Thursday's accident. "I heard a deafening sound. I looked and saw the collapsed overpass."

Two people were killed and 19 injured, the mayor's office said, lowering an earlier injury toll of 22 injured.

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Large-screen public TV broadcasts of Brazil's game on Friday against Colombia, in another city, Fortaleza, have been cancelled in a gesture of mourning, the mayor's office said in a statement.

Belo Horizonte is due to host a semi-final match on Tuesday between the winners of the Brazil-Colombia and France-Germany games. The latter is also to be played Friday.

A firefighters' spokesman said 13 people were rescued from the bus unscathed but the woman driver was killed.

A car was also crushed but it was not immediately known how many people were inside and what their condition was.

Two trucks belonging to the construction company were also hit but the firm said nobody was inside them at the time.

President Dilma Rousseff expressed "sadness" on Twitter, offering her condolences to the families of victims as well as federal help to local authorities.

The structure, which was begun last year, is in the Sao Joao Batista district of the city.

"The overpass was in the final stages of construction and they were taking down the scaffolding when the accident happened," a fire brigade spokesman told AFP.

A public works spokesman for city hall said the overpass had been due to carry an express bus service through the city. The project was supposed to have been completed at the end of July.